Huragok
Huragok (Latin Facticius indolesBestiarum, meaning "artificial genius"HBO Forums), known to Humans as Engineers,Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 237 - "Huragok: the Forerunner name for the Engineer race." are an artificial race that was created by the Forerunners. They are the only known non-combatant race of the Covenant, though some are rigged to explode like suicide bombers. Description While the Prophets guide, direct, and manage Forerunner research and technology, it is the Engineers caste who must excavate, unlock, and transport Forerunner artifacts (a fact only known to higher ranked officers and leaders within the Covenant, due to its sensitive nature), though the Prophets insist that any admission of that fact is heresy. These remarkably helpful and docile aliens are patient, almost completely silent, and exceedingly reserved in their work and its religious implications. Engineers are the scientific and engineering backbone of the Covenant and its economy. They float via bladders that let off a gas lighter than air, and their many tentacles are able to split into many fine cilia, with which they are able to manipulate machinery. Engineers are capable of quickly learning the functionality of new technology. On one occasion, an Engineer was observed by the Master Chief dismantling a vehicle's engine, assembling it into various other working configurations, and then returning it to its original state, all in a matter of seconds.Halo:The Fall of Reach, page 183 Their motivations are unknown; they appear to draw no distinction between friend and foe, preferring to spend their time inspecting or repairing technology, although they will utter a high-pitched keening sound whenever a Forerunner artifact is under any sort of threat. They are extremely apathetic to any sort of combat, and tend to just float along with a single goal: to fix things. In one encounter, an Engineer repaired the Master Chief's damaged shield generator and then floated away; the rather unlucky Engineer was later shot by Lieutenant Haverson to prevent it from possibly giving the specifications of the Chief's improved shield technology to the Covenant (an unlikely possibility). Their concentration has been described as "a trance-like reverie" by the few who have witnessed it. They usually communicate only with Prophets, a fact that may contribute to the balance of power between Elites and Prophets, and will usually ignore anything that is neither a Prophet, a Forerunner artifact, nor a machine.Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 200-201 A notable exception is the Huragok Lighter Than Some, who communicated with the Unggoy Deacon Dadab via Huragok sign language.Halo: Contact Harvest, page ?? The abilities of the Huragok are not limited to their skills to fix things; they are also able to absorb data from a computer or an A.I., and combine it with their own biological "data". One such incident occurred when one Huragok combined its knowledge with the dumb AI of New Mombasa, the Superintendent. During a mission to recover a living Huragok, Captain Veronica Dare described the species as "biological supercomputers".Halo 3: ODST, level "Data Hive" Origins The Engineers were created by the Forerunners prior to the first activation of the Halo Array. Being mechanical structures rather than true life forms, they survived the activation and were later found by the Prophets in various M-Series facilities. Anatomy and Physiology as seen in Halo Graphic Novel.]] The Engineers are actually not a natural biological species at all, but rather an artificial life form created by the Forerunners. While they possess no true tissues or organs, their nano-mechanical surrogates so closely mimic their biological analogs that they seem almost indistinguishable to later observers. Gas-bladders serve as their method of locomotion, allowing them to float through the air even after their deaths. The bladders also serve as part of their respiratory system; if their gas bladders deflate, they will asphyxiate and die. They have small heads with six dark eyes, and four tentacles that can split into very small, near-microscopic cilia. The Engineers use these cilia to construct, repair, or rebuild nearly anything they can grasp. They can take apart whole vehicles and rearrange their entire structure in a matter of seconds, with the resulting machines still operating at least as well as they did before. They learn at an unprecedented rate, and store that information for future reference if ever they need to repair the same thing twice. They are capable of surviving in at least oxygen and methane-rich environments, though they cannot survive in a vacuum. Engineers are not normally a tactical threat and are hardly ever seen in combat situations. Unlike the majority of the Covenant races, they do not regard humans as enemies; during the Master Chief's assault upon Ascendant Justice, one even aided the Chief by repairing the shield generator on his MJOLNIR armor and fixing the SPARTAN's current weapon, a broken Needler.Halo: First Strike, page 83 However, Lieutenant Haverson killed the Engineer stating that it had learned all about the MJOLNIR shield technology, which was superior to the Elite's Personal Energy Shields, and could not be allowed to relay that information. In Halo: Contact Harvest, a Huragok named Lighter Than Some attempted to aid the Humans in an attempt to bring peace; he even made them a peace offering, which, against his wishes, was converted into the Brute Chopper. Huragok "reproduce" by gathering the needed (or available) materials from their surroundings to build another Huragok. Up to three Huragok take part in this process, relaying all the information that they have learned to their "offspring". Given sufficient raw materials, a pair of Huragok can produce a unified replica of themselves in approximately 45 minutes; the addition of a third Huragok cuts the time down to thirty minutes. Understandably, it is advantageous to have as many Huragok contribute to this process as possible, raising the "intelligence" of the offspring. Huragok blood is blue-purple in color, as seen in Halo 3: ODST. However, it is depicted as being scarlet-orange in the Halo Graphic Novel. This is considered an artistic liberty, given the many other contradictory depictions in the book. Huragok are bioluminescent, and in dark conditions their heads and tentacles emit a bright bluish glow, which seems to pulsate when the Huragok is calm and dim when it is frightened. The cilia on their tentacles give off a pinkish-red light as well. Though the inner workings of an Engineer's internal macroscopic biology remain a mystery, it is known that they are capable of using the gas sacks that keep them afloat for anaerobic respiration. This method is painful, dangerous, and apparently only used as a last resort. In the Halo series, only one usage of the ability has been described: when, in Halo: Contact Harvest, Lighter Than Some used anaerobic respiration to keep Dadab alive after the latter's methane tank depleted. Huragok use thousands of microscopic organisms to digest the food they consume, producing many gases, including methane, as a by-product. Communication Huragok can communicate with other Covenant species, such as Grunts, and perhaps with other Huragok, by flexing their limbs in various directions, bending and overlapping to form the specific formation for each word, much like Human sign language. Their gas sacs can also swell and deflate at times of great emotion, suggesting another, more subtle method of communication. Engineers can also communicate using whistle sounds, as shown in Halo: First Strike, when Cortana uses a Covenant SHIPCOM speakers to verbally communicate with an Engineer. This form of communication is used in Halo Wars; the whistle sounds are how Engineers respond when selected. They can also make deep laughter like sounds while around targets or allies. These deep whistling sounds can also be heard in Halo 3: ODST. Personality Huragoks are an extremely valuable asset to a crew as they enjoy fixing things immensely. In several of the novels, they are described as caring about nothing else. However, in Contact Harvest, it is shown that they are very peace loving and have a great respect for life in general. Lighter Than Some even refuses to play a game that would kill non-sentient pests. However, they can be pushed into violence when a friend is in danger, as demonstrated when Lighter Than Some saved his friend, Dadab, by killing the human, Henry Gibson, with a hunting rock. Huragok have also been known to display great compassion and caring for one another, as shown in Halo 3: ODST. Dr. Endesha observed six Huragok selflessly give their own lives while attempting to disarm a bomb attached to another, which detonated after its removal and killed all but the seventh Huragok. Development The creation of the Huragok started around 1999, during the development of Halo: Combat Evolved. From the beginning, they were meant to be "a class of aliens that acted as idiot savants towards technology," and were meant to be able to decipher Forerunner technology easily and allow a glimpse into what made the Forerunner technology so special. As far as gameplay, the designers wanted a race that were less aggressive to populate the world in a more passive way, making Halo feel more alive. The general idea of the Huragok was to be "a character meant to be passive, almost puppy like in nature," and make the players feel bad if they killed them. Sea creatures were used for inspiration, especially underwater sea slugs and glowing jellyfish; their movements, the way they emit light, the fluidity of their bodies - and tried to translate that into a creature out of water. According to Shi Kai Wang, underwater sea creatures like the jellyfish had the right type of feel to them, a very docile and graceful creature that just minds its own business—very much how they initially wanted the Engineers to be. More emotive states were added to their animations and facial features to make them relatable, so that people would feel for them. The Huragok were eventually cut from Halo: Combat Evolved, as there was not enough time or technology to "make them feel right". For Halo 3: ODST, the Huragok were completely redesigned to fit the gameplay, and to make them more in-depth characters. As the tools and capabilities were now available, the creatures could be made just like they were originally envisioned. Originally, in Halo 3: ODST, the Engineer was to suck its limbs and head into a cocoon shell and have it float away in distress or cower in fear. This effect wasn't fully achieved as a good solution for how the animations would work alongside gameplay couldn't be figured out. Eventually, the idea was turned into something similar but a scaled-down version.Bungie.net: Engineer Evolved Symbols Huragoks are known to mark some areas of significance with mysterious glyphs, which can be found on various surfaces, walls, ceilings or floors, often in irregular patterns. These usually consist of an "Y"-shape or a circle, with various types of glyphs similar to Forerunner symbols around them. The symbols are likely related to the Huragoks' Forerunner origin. In Halo 3: ODST, they can be seen glowing with the VISR mode turned on. They are usually seen in or near areas of interest, such as locations with dead Sangheili or supply caches. The ones in the supply caches also bear a similar symbols depicting the Superintendent, possibly hinting to cooperation of the A.I. with Huragok. This is further supported by the fact that the subroutine of the Superintendent known as Vergil fused with an Engineer to pass information along to the UNSC.Halo 3: ODST Trivia *Engineers are the only Covenant race to be cut from the original ''Halo'' Trilogy yet still considered "canon", as they appear in the novels. They were later included in Halo Wars, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.Halo: Reach ViDoc "Once More Unto the Breach" *Though they were cut from Halo: Combat Evolved, the Huragok went through several development cycles. *''Halo'' fans first learned of the Huragok from a screenshot in the August 2000 issue of PC Gamer magazine (scanned here). *If a Huragok is killed after being modded into Halo: Combat Evolved, it will simply remain perfectly still, as it has no death animation. If you shoot it after the blood has spilled from it, the skin of the Huragok will bubble with a purple liquid where you shot it, which shows an element of Halo: Combat Evolved that was used in the final game only with Flood - wound graphics. *Three Huragok were taken prisoner aboard the Ascendant Justice when it was captured by Human survivors of the Battle of Installation 04. One was killed after it learned of Human shield improvements, to prevent its return to the Covenant. The other two were presumably interrogated by ONI. Their current fate remains unknown.Halo: First Strike *The Huragok are, ironically given their pacifism, the species credited with killing the first human in the Human-Covenant War, albeit in defense of a friend, Dadab. *In Halo 2's Conversations From The Universe they are known to be called "loogies" or "boo-bags" for their appearance. *Despite the UNSC having been aware of Engineers for quite some time before the events of ODST, upon meeting one face-to-face while looking for Captain Veronica Dare, ODSTs Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck and Lance Corporal Kojo Agu had clearly never encountered or heard of anything like it, or else did not recognize the creature in its armor. *The "Good Samaritan" achievement can be unlocked by not killing any Engineers in New Mombasa at night during the entire campaign, alone or with another ODST. On the other hand, killing ten of the Engineers in the city will unlock the "Naughty Naughty" achievement. *In "Mombasa Streets", in several hidden courtyards, two Huragok can be found, on their own, shining lights on to walls, as if searching for something. If the player gets their attention, the Huragok will look at the player for a minute, then continue searching. If near these areas, the Superintendent will point the player towards them. They will not explode unless killed. *In Halo 3: ODST, during the hub level "Mombasa Streets", three Brutes can be observed torturing an Engineer. Two of the Brutes hold the creature in place while the third one violently attaches an explosive to it. *In Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, Mo Ye incorrectly states that the Covenant "call them Engineers". "Engineer" is actually the Human name for the species, with the Covenant name being Huragok. Gallery Image:Engineer4.jpg|The early look of a Huragok aboard a Covenant ship. Image:1207643494 Engineer front.gif|A frontal view of the cut Huragok. Image:Engineers3.jpg|A group of the concept Engineers from a Halo: Combat Evolved mod of the level "The Silent Cartographer". Image:HWengineer.jpg|A Huragok as seen in Halo Wars. Image:Engineer_character-evolution_3-of-4.jpg|Concept art of an armored Huragok for Halo 3: ODST. Image:94983734-Full-1-.JPG|A suicide Huragok moments before exploding. Image:Phantomstation.jpg|A Phantom dropping off/picking up Huragok into one of their recharge stations. File:Huragok - Infected.png|Two Huragok as seen in Halo Legends' Origins. Sources category:The Forerunner Category:Covenant Species Category:Technology Category:Living Organisms